Heat-interchanger unit for regenerative air preheaters



' C. COOK HEAT INTERCHANGER UNIT FOR REGENERATIVE AIR PREHEATERS Filed Oct. 192a Q rge 0.60M,

INVENTOR Patented July .30, 1929 gTATES GEORGE C. COOK, OF MILLINGTON, NEW JERSEY.

HEAT-INTERGHANGER UNIT FOR REGENERATIVE AIR, IPREHEA'IEBS.

- Q Application filed October 7, 1926. serial No. 139,987.

The invention relates to a regenerative air preheater such as may be employed in con nection with the combustion of coal to secure greater eliiciency therein. More particularly,

the invention relates to the heat interchang ing or regenerative mass of such preheater and embodying a continuously rotating rotor member through which the air to be preheated and the spent flue gases for heating the same are directed, preferably oppositely to each other. More especially, the invention resides in certain details of construction of the rotatable regenerative mass and the assembly and mounting of the members composing the same, whereby possible leakage between the two gases adapted to pass through the regenerator mass is reduced to a minimum and a maximum of regenerative surface is afforded.

In a prior U. S. Letters Patent, No. 1,603,- O26, granted me October 12, 1926', a regenerative mass of the aforesaid nature is disclosed comprising annular supporting members in which alternate plain and corrugated plate members are assembled in suitable carrying frames in manner such that their surfaces lie in planes'substantially perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the annular regenerator mass and provide thereby substantially radial fluid passages from the peripheryof the mass to the space within the same. The said construction generally requires the disposition of the said plates substantially radially in the rotatable annulus, and from the same it follows necessarily that the bottom or'inner portion of the successive chambers formed by these plates will be narrower than the top or outer portion thereof; and in my previous embodiment, the intermediate corrugated members are shown slightly tapered toward the center of said member to accommodate the angularity, said corrugated members being held substantially against movement in their respective chambers.

In accordance with the present invention, provision is made for so mounting the corru gated members of the heat interchanger that the same may be rocked or oscillated in their respective chambers as the annulus rotates, thereby materially assisting in effecting loosening or freeing of foreign matter from such plates and which. may have been deposited thereon during operation of the interchanger. To a large extent, the apparatus is thus rendered substantially self-cleaning; and, moreover, the construction admits of the use of corru gated rug ated plates as interchanger members which are not tapered but are of uniform thlckness of the corrugations throughout, that is to say,

plates are equal respectively in heighth and depth throughout the length of theplate. f

To this end, the plain interchanger plates, between which the. corrugated plates are mounted, are provided with end walls or wings disposed at right angles theretoand the outer edge of each is directed radially and reduced at the innermost point to a width of wing substantially equal to the thickness of the corrugations of the corrugated plate to be located between successive plain plates. The wings thus flare outwardly from the bottom so that the chamber formed between two successive plates is considerably wider at the outer or top portion than at the inner or bottom portion and will consequently permit the 1ncluded corrugated interchanger plate meinher to effect a rocking or oscillating motion in accordance with therotation of the annular regenerative member. The nature of the invention will, however, best be understood when described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the novel preheater with a portion of the casing broken away, as well as a portion of the plate-carrying members of which the rotor portion is composed.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse section. taken on the line 2- -2, Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows. I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the novel separator and spacer member.-

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a series of regenerator elements mounted in their carrying basket with a portion of the latter broken away.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 5-5, Fig. 4, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the preheater casing which is divided substantiatly midway of its length in manner such that corresponding ducts 11 and 12 are provided therein lying one above the other in substantially parallel relationship and to which may be connected the ducts 13 and 14: respectively fromthe waste flue gases and the air to be heated thereby. The air passes, as set forth in my said patent, from the inlet duct 14 in the direction indicated by the the ridges and furrows of such corlower' arrow through one half of the preheater device while the waste flue gases pass, for example, in the direction indicated by the upper arrow through the other half of the preheater. The regenerator mass for the transfer of the heat of the waste spent gases to the incoming air is constructed as an annular'rotor member 15, the same comprising a succession of separated annular disks 16 secured together by arcuateU-shaped basket or retaining members 17 through the arms of said basket members which are riveted to adjacent disks. A drum of these disk members may thus be constructed by axially disposing the same, whereby there is provided a hollow cylindrical member and which may be rotated in any suitable manner through, for example, an internal gear 18 attached thereto and engaged by a driving pinion 19-- all of which is more fully set forth in my patent.

The present invention relates more especially to the construction and mounting of the heat interchanging members in the haskets 17 which are circularly disposed on the said disks 16. As set forth in my aforesaid patent, the arms of said basket or retaining members 17 may be provided with circular inner and outer ledges 21 and notched at their outer ends. The ledges 21 of said arms are designed to receive and support therein sheet metal plates 22 which are correspondingly notched at their corners, as indicated, to fit over the ledges along the respective inner and outer edges of a basket. Corrugated sheet metal plates 23 are to be alternated with the plates 22 to provide thereby substantially radial fluid passages from the periphery of the mass to the space within the same. These corrugated plates are not to be tapered to conform to the contraction in width due to the radial disposition of the plate members, as in my aforesaid embodiment, although they are similarly notched to allow of their support on the ledges 21. It will beinderstood that, in assembling the plates in a basket between a pair of disks, the entrance notches are to be suitably blocked when all of the plates arein place-in a particular element.

In accordance with the present invention, the corrugated members are arranged to admit of being rocked or oscillatedas the rotor member is correspondingly rotated. That is to say, while at their inner portion said corrugated plates are substantially of the width of the bottom or inner portion of the chamber formed between two of the plain plates 22, there is left considerable play at the outer or top portion of such chamber for the corrugated plate to rock or oscillate under the influence of gravity as a said corrugated plate moves with the rotation of the rotor member. To maintain this progressively increasing Width of the chamber to the outermost portion, each of the plain plates 22 is formed with ends orwings 25 which are disposed at right angles to such plates, the said wings extending between the ledges 21. and their upper and lower edges being formed as arcs conforming respectively to the circular ledges while the outer edge of a wing member is substantially radial.

These wing members will thus serve as spacer members positively determining the shape of the chamber for the corrugated plates 23; and the back of a succeeding plate is to contact with the outer edge of the wing of a preceding plate, the plainplates with end wings and the intermediate corrugated plates all being disposed and held within a basket member 17 to constitute one of the heat interchanger elements of the annular rotor member through which the gases and incoming air are to be directed as hereinbefore set forth.

Generally, the plates 22 are designed to be of a Width just suflicient to enable them to be readily located in their particular hasket; and when the heated gases are subsequently directed therethru, said plates will expand to an extent sufiicient to seal adequately the chambers between successive plates due to the pressingof the wing portions thereof against the corresponding arms of a basket 17. Or, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, the said plates may be constructed of reduced width and sheets 26 as of asbestos or other suitable fire resistant and somewhat resilient material may be interposed between the wings and the corresponding arms to secure a satisfactory seal.

I claim:

1. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants: a rotatable regenerative mass for the fluids, comprising alternately disposed plain and corrugated metal plates, the former being spaced apart sufficiently to admit loosely between the same the said corrugated plates and enable the latter to oscillate relatively to the said plain plates.

2. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants: a rotatable regen erative mass for the fluids, comprising alternately disposed plain and corrugated metal plates, the former including spacing members for separating said plain plates from one another and admitting loosely between the same the said corrugated plates.

3. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants a regenerative mass for the fluids, comprising an annular rotatable drum member composed ofa succession of annular disks, spacing members secured thereto of greater width at the upper. end than at the lower end, and heat interchanging means'carried by said spacing members and comprising alternate plain and corrugated metal plates, the thickness of the corrugations of the latter being less than the outer width of said spacing members and the corrugated plates thereby oscillatable relatively to the plain plates.

4. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants: a regenerative mass for the fluids comprising an annular rotatable drum member, heat interchanging means carried by said member and comprising plain plates disposed with a surface of each in a plane perpendicular to the plane of rotation to provide substantially radlal passages from the periphery to the space within said annular member, and intermediate corrugated plates, said corrugations being of substantially uniform thickness throughout.

5. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants: a regenerative mass for the fluids comprising an annular rotatable drum member, heat interchanging means carried by said member and comprising plain plates disposed with a surface of each in a plane perpendicular to the plane of rotation to provide substantially radial passages from the periphery to the space within said annular member and having also wings extending therefrom at right angles, the back of a succeeding plate abutting the edges of the wings of a preceding plate, and intermediate corrugated plates, said corrugations being of substantially uniform thickness throughout.

6. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants a regenerative mass for the fluids comprising an annular rotatable drum member, heat interchanging means carried by said member and comprising plain plates disposed with a surface of each in a plane perpendicular to the plane of rotation to provide substantially radial passages from the periphery to the space within said annular member and having win members extending therefrom at right ang es with front edges radial, the back of a succeeding plate abutting the said radial edges of the wings of a preceding plate, and intermediate corrugated plates of substantially uniform thickness of the corru ations.

7. a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants a regenerative-mass for the fluids, comprisin an annular rotatable drum member compose of a succession of mix nular disks, basket members having arms attached to the disks and provided with ledges, metal plates resting on said ledges and having Wings extending therefrom at right angles to afiord spacer means and to determine the position of said plate members in a basket member, the rear of a succeeding plate abutting the wings of a preceding plate, and intermediate corrugated plates,-saidcorrugations being of uniform thickness throughout and supported on said ledges.

8.- In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants a regenerative mass for the fluids, comprising an annular rotatable drum member composed of a succession of annular disks, basket members having arms attached to the disks and provided with inner and outer circular ledges, metal plates notched at the corners to be held in the respective basket members by said ledges and having wingmembers extending therefrom at right angles with radial front edge and inner and outer edges as arcs of a circle to conform to the curvature'ofthe ledges, the rear of a succeeding plate abutting the said radial edges of a preceding plate, and intermediate corrugated plates, said corrugations being of uniform thickness throughout and supported on said ledges.

2. In a regenerative preheater for air or the like in furnace plants a regenerative mass for the fluids, comprising an annular rotatable drum member composed of a succession of annular disks, basket members having arms attached to the disks and provided with ledges, metal plates resting on said ledges and having wings extending therefrom at right angles'to afford spacer means and to determine the position of said plate members in a basket member, the rear of a succeeding plate abuting the wings of'a preceding plate, intermediate cor-- rugated plates, said corrugations being ofv uniform thickness throughout and supported GEORGE, c. 0001:.

corresponding on said ledges,- and sealing material interposed 

